A collection of Samuel Beckett’s favourite books
Irish writer Samuel Beckett was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, known for his modernist approach to writing. From plays to novels, Beckett’s work was defined by the absurd, exploring themes such as time, mortality and nihilism.
Perhaps one of his most famous works, Waiting for Godot, a play that first premiered in 1953, having been written in the post-war period, is a cultural touchpoint that few can avoid in the world of theatre and beyond. Other popular plays by Beckett include Happy Days and Krapp’s Last Tapes. He also found acclaim with novels like Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable.
Beckett was extremely talented, successfully transferring his skills through several different mediums. He has been recognised as one of the most influential writers of his generation, inspiring others to experiment with non-realist themes and structure. It can be argued that Beckett’s preoccupation with absurdism and nonsensical narratives is actually a closer reflection of an authentic human experience.
Naturally, a writer as prolific as Beckett was also an avid reader, consuming countless stories, poems and other forms of literature during his lifetime. In letters dating between 1941 and 1956, Beckett shed light on many of his favourite books he read.
He was particularly impressed by J.D. Salinger’s classic coming-of-age novel The Catcher in the Rye, which was published in 1951. Telling the story of teenager Holden Caulfield, the book explores themes of adolescent angst with emotional nuance and complexity. Beckett “liked it very much indeed, more than anything for a long time”.
Elsewhere, Beckett wrote about his love for Jean Racine’s Andromaque. He explained: “I read Andromaque again with greater admiration than ever, and I think more understanding, at least more understanding of the chances of the theatre today.” Beckett clearly wasn’t scared of re-reading books, also stating that he read Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane “for the fourth time the other day with the same old tears in the same old places.”
Beckett was especially impressed by Albert Camus’ The Stranger, released in 1942. Depicting a man’s seemingly arbitrary killing of a man on the beach, The Stranger is a key work of absurdist literature. Beckett urged, “Try and read it, I think it is important”.
The writer also shared his thoughts on Lautreamont and Sade by Maurice Blanchot. “Some excellent ideas, or rather starting-points for ideas, and a fair bit of verbiage, to be read quickly, not as a translator does. What emerges from it, though, is a truly gigantic Sade, jealous of Satan and of his eternal torments, and confronting nature more than with humankind.”
Discover Beckett’s essential reading list below.
Samuel Beckett’s essential reading list:
- Andromaque – Jean Racine
- Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne
- The Castle – Franz Kafka
- The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
- Effi Briest – Theodor Fontane
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo
- Journey to the End of the Night – Louis-Ferdinand Céline
- Lautreamont and Sade – Maurice Blanchot
- Man’s Fate – Andre Malraux
- Mosquitoes – William Faulkner
- The Stranger – Albert Camus
- The Temptation to Exist – Emil Cioran
- La 628-E8 – Octave Mirbeau
